HOW TO FIND QUALITY PRINT AND MAIL DEALERS

The problem lies in the fact that there are people involved in Print and Mail that are rip-offs. It's an easy thing to do. Advertise that you will Print and Mail 5x8 circulars for $8 per 1,000. When orders come in, pocket the money and throw the customer's ad in the trash. The customer won't know the difference. Most won't keep tabs on who they sent a Print and Mail order to and no one can trace if you, in fact, actually printed and mailed their ad.

When a rip-off P&M dealer get caught, news travels fast within the mail order industry! In addition, they will be inundated with phone calls or letters asking "why" a checking copy was not received. Someone will even- tually publish your name as a rip-off artist and they'll be publicized as a "bad" dealer. When this happens _ they might as well kiss their mail order business career good-bye.

And don't think they can just open another post office box under another name and commit the same scam. The Simmons Company is California was notorious for several years of selling his "Turn-A-Copy", nicknamed "Turn-A-Junk." Just prior to the holidays, he would begin advertising his scam for $14.95 to get money for Christmas. Not only was this guy made a laughing stock but the postal authorities were alerted and he soon had trouble opening up a post office box anywhere in his county. Mr. Simmons would have had to actually move or drive several hundred miles just to open up a post office box to commit his scam again _ which is hard to do for an old man.

Most people don't realize that they can't fool the post office for long periods of time. Once they are blackballed and their post office box closed computers make it handy to alert other area post office's so it will be hard to obtain a post office box. Some people will have relatives and friends open one up for them _ but again _ the post office box will be closed and all the mail seized when the scam is uncovered again. Therefore, YOU the customer must use sound judgment before using a Print and Mail dealer. Check out their reputation. If in doubt, send in a small order; code it and monitor the responses to it. When you find a honest Print and Mail dealer (and there are quite a few), stick with that person. Give them your repeat business. Support them and their business will grow. Eventually, the honest dealers will outshine the dishonest ones. In other words _ don't be a fool. Don't spend your money for a "pig in a poke." It doesn't make good business sense.

So, you might say, "What's wrong with spending $2 for a possible 10,000 circulation? Even if the ad only makes it in 25 or 50 copies, it's nothing to lose $2." However, by thinking this way, you are keeping rip-off artists in business. The fact is _ your ad will be thrown in the trash and you've given the rip-off another $2 to buy a pack of cigarettes and laugh at you for making it all possible.

When you look through the mail order tabloids, be cautious of anyone claiming to do a print and mail for less than $25 per 1,000 (exception of tabloids printed on web presses.) The normal price for 5,000 sheets of 20-pound bond paper (a case) is around $25 or $6.25 per 1,000. The ink and time needed to run your job costs another $4 _ we're up to $10. Now the dealer only has $15 left to pay for postage and make a profit for his/her business. That's cutting it close. So there is no way anyone can print and mail 1,000 circulars for $6 or even $10 unless they are a multi-millionaire with nothing to do but spend money and take losses.

If you send an advertisement to your local newspaper, there is never any doubt that they will keep your money and not print the paper that particular day. It's sad that the mail order industry cannot say the same thing _ but perhaps one day it will. It's up to every one of us to use sound judgement in spending our own money.